Smaller housebuilders are set for a major boost under government plans for new reforms across land, regulation and finance.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says thousands of homes will be built faster on smaller sites across the country as complex planning rules are streamlined, onerous regulatory burdens eased and financial firepower is provided to SME builders.

Proposals announced include faster decisions for small sites. Minor developments of up to nine homes will benefit from streamlined planning and eased Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements, with faster decisions being taken by expert planning officers, not planning committees.

A new ‘medium site’ category of between 10 to 49 homes will face simpler rules and fewer costs – including a proposed exemption from the Building Safety Levy and simplified BNG rules, making it easier to deliver biodiverse habitats on these sites.

The government has also announced more land and financing options for SMEs. Homes England will release more of its land exclusively to SMEs, and a new National Housing Delivery Fund to be confirmed at the spending review will support long-term finance options, such as revolving credit facilities and lending alliances. 

A new Small Sites Aggregator pilot in Bristol, Sheffield and the London Borough of Lewisham will unlock sites that would otherwise not have been developed, while attracting private investment to build new social rent homes. Building on a model developed by Lloyds Banking Group’s Social Housing Initiative, the Small Sites Aggregator will help tackle the housing shortage, address unviable small plots of land, and create local jobs supporting the government’s Plan for Change.

Deputy prime minister and housing secretary, Angela Rayner, said: “Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder.  

“For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field.

“Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”

Full details are being set out today for the modernising of planning committees – ensuring elected councillors focus on the most significant proposals and larger developments rather than small-scale projects or niche technical details, while more faster decisions are made by expert trained planners. 

Under these plans, once a development has been agreed in principle technical details won’t keep going back and forth to committees - accelerating housebuilding and saving council planning departments time and money.

Further support announced today for local builders includes:

• £100m in SME Accelerator Loans to help smaller firms to grow and invest using part of the £700m extension to the Home Building Fund announced in December.
• £10m for councils to fund more specialists to speed up environmental assessments, getting spades in the ground faster.
• A £1.2m PropTech Innovation Fund to support innovation in small site delivery, for example through use of new data tools.

The wide-ranging package for SMEs today builds on the government’s planning overhaul so far, with the new National Planning Policy Framework alone expected to drive housebuilding to its highest level in over 40 years and add £6.8bn to the economy by 2030.

The announcement has also been welcomed by industry.  The Association for Consultancy and Engineering, the trade association for the infrastructure sector with members ranging from global companies such as ARUP, Mott MacDonald and AECOM to SMEs and micro developers, backed the reforms.

Kate Kennings, CEO of ACE Group, said: “We fully welcome the government’s commitment to streamlining planning decisions, easing regulatory and financial pressures, and backing it with meaningful funding.

“For years, our members have faced disproportionate barriers in the planning system – with small developments subject to the same costly and time-consuming processes as major schemes. Today’s reforms mark a critical shift towards a more proportionate, practical and pro-growth approach.

“They will enable our members to get on with the job of building the homes people need – supporting local employment, apprenticeships and regional economic growth of cities, town and villages across the country in the months and years ahead.

“We look forward to working closely with Ministers and Homes England to ensure these reforms deliver real results on the ground and further enhance, not restrict, BNG.”

Sean Keyes, CEO of Sutcliffe, a civil and structural engineering firm, said: “As an SME the proposed streamlined regulation, will make it enormously easier to deliver biodiverse habitats alongside building the homes the nation desperately needs.

“At Sutcliffe, we strive for excellence in delivery and sustainability is at the heart of everything we do; the focus on easing the process to deliver BNG rules will not distract from that and empower us to build communities and enrich lives.”

Piers Burroughs, chair of ACE’s SME group and managing director of civil and structural engineering firm Burroughs, also added: “Today’s announcement is a real breakthrough for local housebuilders.

“For far too long, smaller developers have been held back by a planning system that treats a 10-home scheme the same as one with 100. These reforms will finally help create a level playing field, cut restrictive red tape, and unlock the kind of community-led, high-quality development that we specialise in.”